Cosatu And SACP Condemn ANC Moves Against Derek Hanekom

The alliance partners are unhappy with the ANC after it gave Hanekom ten days to say why he should not be disciplined.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 18: (SOUTH AFRICA OUT) Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Derek Hanekom and ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe outside the Johannesburg High Court on April 18, 2011 in Johannesburg, South Africa. NCYL President Julius Malema is appearing on charges of hate speech for singing the song 'Shoot The Boer' laid against him by Tshwane-based lobby group AfriForum. (Photo by Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The ANC is once again on a collision course with its tripartite alliance partners after threatening to fire ANC MP Derek Hanekom as head of the party's disciplinary committee, Eyewitness News (EWN) reported on Tuesday.

The ANC has written to Hanekom, giving him ten days to provide reasons why he should not be fired as head of the disciplinary committee.

In a letter, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said tweets by Hanekom before the vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma, urging MPs to vote with their conscience, compromised his neutrality.

But Cosatu and the SACP, the ANC's tripartite alliance partners, are reportedly not happy.

"All of these people are actually defending the principles that have guided the ANC for quite a long time," Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla told EWN.

"To say you're going to charge people who are calling for ethical leadership, you can't pretend as if the president of the ANC is not the source of this political dissent."

Cosatu has openly said it wants Zuma to go and is supporting his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, to take over as ANC leader at the party's elective conference in December.

The SACP condemned the ANC's moves against Hanekom.

SACP leader Solly Mapaila said:

"The people who are mentioned in the emails saga that actually donated sovereignty of our country, that have participated in the effective corporate capture of our state and each organ are the ones that should have been prioritised to face the music."